The Stubborn, The Stupid, And The Amused
by Travel-The-Sea-To-Seoul
Summary: Yoko's being stubborn and Hiromu's being his semi-stupid self. This makes for much amusement to Ryuji and Nick. *Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.*


'Those two are as oblivious and stubborn as could be,' Ryuji Iwasaki rolled his eyes as he thought to himself. He was currently on the balcony at their base, watching Hiromu Sakurada and Yoko Usami interact. When Hiromu was looking at Nick, listening to him talk, Yoko was sneaking a peak at him over her schoolbook. She'd look down just as Hiromu would look over to her, tuning Nick out as his mind drifted. Ryuji could do nothing but laugh at their antics. It was clear to everyone that they had feelings for each other that surpassed comrades. The problem? Everyone could see their feelings, except each other, of course. He simply deduced that they were too stubborn to admit their feelings to themselves, in turn making them oblivious that their actions were obvious except to the two, who were still in denial.

The two had started out as comrades who butted heads on multiple occasions. Yoko wanted to be seen as an adult, and while he himself had an instinct to protect her, he knew she could hold her own. Hiromu on the other hand wanted to keep his promise and in turn protect her. He came off blunt, and considered her a child, ticking Yoko off to no end. He shook his head to clear his thoughts of the two as he walked down the stairs, sitting beside Yoko, who was currently working on her homework, Usada beside her, nagging away about her doing her schoolwork.

"Usada!" Yoko let out a frustrated sigh, pushing the book away.

"Yoko, you must do this to get into college!" Usada complained back.

"Yeah, you need to focus on your school. Ryuji and I can handle the rest," Hiromu commented. Ryuji threw a glare to Hiromu, knowing Yoko was going to take offense to the remark.

"You think you can do this alone?" Yoko yelled, standing up and pushing her book off the table, "Fine!" She stormed out of the room, leaving everyone sighing and looking at Hiromu with disapproval.

"You really know how to stick your foot in your mouth, huh, Hiromu?" Gorisaki said.

"Hiromu, did you really have to word it like that? Can't you be more sensitive like I've taught you!?" Nick shook his head and went to stand by the other buddyroids.

"What did I say?" Hiromu furrowed his brow, looking at everyone. They all shook their heads and sighed, going back to their own business. He scratched the back of his neck before walking the way Yoko exited, set on finding her and knowing what he did wrong.

Yoko had run out of the base and found her way to a nearby park. She sat on the bench as she sighed, looking around and seeing that the park was empty today.

"Why must he always do that?" she asked herself, frowning as she messed with her jacket, "It's like he's purposely insensitive to get under my skin." She started as a stray dog wandered over, sniffing at her jacket pocket. She pulled out her treats, the non-chocolate ones, and gave one to the dog, "Boys are stupid." She scratched the dog behind the ears and shook her head, "Why must I like him?" Yoko sighed as she said this. She didn't want to admit to herself that she liked him, but all the signs were there. She hadn't that she liked him and he only thought of her as a child. She was only four years younger, right? In addition, hadn't she proved herself a valuable member throughout their time fighting together? She shook her head, trying to clear her head and petting the dog gently, "Boys are rea-"

"Really stupid?" she turned in shock as she heard Hiromu's voice behind her. He stepped over the bench before sitting down, shaking his head, "Not all boys are stupid… just this one, I suppose." She looked away, down at her hands, in effort to avoid looking at him, "You know, I thought you were just being oversensitive like usual, but as I was looking for you, I realized how that actually sounded. I'm not good with words, Yoko. You know this." She held her sigh to herself, wanting to speak in protection of herself but remaining quiet, "I'm really stupid sometimes, aren't I? I didn't mean to… I don't know… I didn't mean to make you feel like I thought you weren't important to the team. You are." She sighed, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye as she continued to pet the dog, "You may be young, but you've been the glue that holds us together. We, Ryuji and I… all of them, really. We all want to protect you. Not because we think you can't handle yourself, but because we care about you."

"That's great, Hiromu, but I can take care of myself," she finally spoke up, looking to the dog, "I'm not defenseless."

"No one said you were," he shook his head, looking over to her, "You remember that one time that I froze in mid-battle and you and Ryuji protected me until I was unfrozen? Or when Ryuji over-heated and you kept everyone away from him until he cooled down?" She looked to him, nodding, "We didn't ask you to protect us, but you did, because you care about us. Friends don't ask each other to protect them; we just do because we don't want _anything_ happening to them, Yoko. _I don't want anything happening to you."_ Without realizing what he had implied, he stood up, patting her head gently, "Return when you're ready, okay?" As he muttered that, he left, disappearing around the corner and leaving Yoko alone.

"Boys really are stupid, huh?" She muttered to the dog, a smile now set on her face as a blush began to rise in her cheeks, "You think he likes me too?" She gave the dog one last treat before rising, stuffing the rest in her pocket and heading back to the base. Unbeknownst to the two that Ryuji was standing behind the bushes with Nick, a grin set on his face.

"Hiromu just made himself known and he doesn't even know it," Nick commented, hitting his forehead, "He really is an idiot."

"Maybe this is the push the two needed, Nick," Ryuji chuckled, standing up and shaking his head, patting Nick on the shoulder, "Let's go back. With us missing, they'll know something is up." Nick nodded, moving out of the bush and waiting for Ryuji to join him.

"How long do you think Hiromu has before he really spills his secret?"

"Now that Yoko knows? I give it a week."

"You give him too much credit. I'm thinking three days."

"Nick, it will take four just for Hiromu to realize what he said."

"That is true…"


End file.
